The Labour leader of Kirklees Council is to be asked to back Conservatives calling for a judge-led inquiry into the Huddersfield grooming scandal.

Tories have tabled a motion at the forthcoming full council meeting on November 7 urging Clr Shabir Pandor to write to Home Secretary Sajid Javid inviting him to order a judicial inquiry into what they called "terrible atrocities".

The motion currently sits at the end of the meeting's agenda but Mayor of Kirklees Gwen Lowe will be asked to move it forward to ensure it is not "timed out" by lengthy debate.

The formal request follows in the wake of the trials, at Leeds Crown Court, of 20 men who were convicted for their part in an "inhuman" campaign of rape and sexual abuse in the town.

More than a dozen vulnerable girls, some as young as 11, were groomed and then raped between 2004 and 2011.

Conservative Group Leader, Clr David Hall described the actions of the paedophile ring as "an appalling stain on Huddersfield’s history".

He added: "No stone must be left unturned to get to the bottom of why these terrible atrocities were not detected for so long".

The motion reads as follows: "This Council resolves that the Leader of the Council should write to the Home Secretary for the purposes of inviting the Minister to cause an inquiry to be held under the provisions of the Inquiries Act 2005 in relation to a case where it appears to him that particular events have caused, or are capable of causing, public concern, those events being the conviction of a number of individuals from the Kirklees area for offences of Child Sexual Exploitation and the ongoing prosecution of a number of other individuals from the same area for offences of Child Sexual Exploitation."

Tory councillor Nigel Patrick said he hoped the matter would be heard as a reflection of the severity of the issue.

"This is significant and it's in the public interest.

The 20 members of the Huddersfield grooming gang convicted of horrendous offences against young, vulnerable girls

"If it's not brought forward it won't be heard. What will that say? It speaks volumes about the council and the way it doesn't want to talk about important issues in public.

"This is arguably the most important subject that could ever be raised."

The council has already announced that the Kirklees Safeguarding Board will hold an independent review of the grooming case with the findings made public.

And whilst warning that a formal, judicial inquiry Clr Pandor "can take many years to report" Clr Pandor said he was open to receiving advice from the Home Secretary.

The Conservatives have requested that the motion - submitted as "opposition priority business" in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 14 as to Child Sexual Exploitation - be brought forward "if the consideration of the item has not commenced within two hours of the start of the meeting".